Coming Soon: Blog Conference for PR/Marcom Professionals – New Communications Forum 2005
If you are considering starting a corporate blog, want to learn how to maximize your current blog, or simply want to learn more about how blogging and other new communications tools such as wikis and RSS newsfeeds are becoming crucial tools for your communications toolkit, we’ve got a conference for you.
There is growing demand for a conference on corporate blogging, as is evidenced by the PRSA's recently realization and last-minute addition of a session on blogging at its annual conference. While one-time webinars and sole conference sessions are important steps, they simply do not provide enough in-depth education on the strategic issues and successful tactical implementation of these new communications tools.
So, Guillaume and I decided to launch a full, robust conference specifically designed by and for PR and marketing communications professionals to address this need. In the coming days, you will be hearing a lot more from us about this conference and how to register. A few points: New Communications Forum 2005 will be held in two venues within weeks of each other. NewComm Forum Americas West 2005 will be held in the US near Silicon Valley in late January, and NewComm Forum Europe 2005 will be held in early February in Paris, France.
New Communications Forum 2005 will consist of an in-depth, two-day intensive workshop for senior communications professionals, taught by experienced PR and marketing professionals, who are also successful bloggers. The event will also feature practitioner panels, keynote addresses, and a hands-on demo area. Our goal is for attendees to leave the conference confident they can not only start blogging immediately, but also convince their corporations and/or clients that they should blog as well.
Some of our blog buddies may have already heard from us, with our request for them to be instructors or panelists. If you haven’t heard from us yet, you probably will soon. Or just drop us a line nominating yourself.
If you are interested in being notified when we officially launch the event, please add your name and email address to the comments below or email us. Of course, we’ll be announcing it here first!
In a world of increasing transparency, PR and marketing people need to understand the potential of new communication tools like blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds, even if they aren’t a practicing blogger themselves, as it is affecting the overall world of media and journalism. This will be a great opportunity to gain that foundational knowledge.
Stay tuned!
Any plans for New York or the New York area? Or even the East Coast of the US?
Posted by: david parmet | October 21, 2004 at 11:24 AM
Right now, we are focusing on the events in Napa and Paris, but, given the response we get to them, we would certainly consider taking the forum to other locations. The East Coast is an obvious one!
Posted by: Elizabeth Albrycht | October 21, 2004 at 12:08 PM
Great idea, looking forward to hearing more...
Posted by: Mike Manuel | October 21, 2004 at 07:51 PM
Excellent idea, Elizabeth and Guillaume. I look forward to hearing more.
Oh - and can I nominate me? I've spoken on the role of PR in the blogosphere before, here: http://www.jupiterevents.com/blog/spring03/
I've something in similar vein up my own sleeve too. Not a conference -- nothing that will compete with your plans, don't worry -- But a new project that will touch on some of the same points of interest.
More news on that very, very soon...
Posted by: Michael O'Connor Clarke | October 21, 2004 at 09:49 PM
Thank you both for taking on this project. You've been an active proponent of online communication and have always pulled other PR folks into the mix. You are leading by example and it's great to see.
Posted by: Matthew Podboy | October 22, 2004 at 01:01 AM
Thank you all for you nice comments!
Michael - thanks for wanting to participate. I am intrigued by your new project! Guillaume and I plan on looking at the new round of people who are nominating themselves next week and we'll be making decisions then.
There are far more awesome PR/marketing bloggers than speaking spots available. While I am thrilled to be able to say that, we simply cannot accomodate everyone. However, even if you aren't chosen for speaking, we'd love to have you there! There will be lots of audience participation and learning from each other, as well as from the instructors.
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 22, 2004 at 09:14 AM
Great job Elizabeth, particularly the global focus. One could argue you should gather speakers for each one and then literally switch the programs, send France to California and vice versa, to really get a good international feel.
Sure, too expensive to do, but a global and local perspective will surely set your event apart.
I look foward to reading the event blog! And I nominate myself for any virutal assistance I can provide (he notes with no $ for travel).
Have a great weekend.
Posted by: Kevin Dugan | October 22, 2004 at 04:20 PM
Your timing is perfect, Elizabeth. A growing number of our larger corporate clients are starting to ask about corporate blogs, RSS feeds, and news search. They want to take advantage of these opportunities, but they are also worried about taking on additional risks. I'll urge them to attend your conference -- which I intend to attend as well.
Posted by: Greg Jarboe | October 26, 2004 at 05:12 PM
Thank you so much! We will have information up on how to register in the next few days.
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 26, 2004 at 05:20 PM
Looking forward to attending -- the challenge will be in getting non-communicators in organizations to recognize blogging as a medium. Except for a notable few, I've had CEOs tell me that it's like the CB radio craze of the 70s....and yet they still have jobs...
Posted by: Kathleen Buczko | October 28, 2004 at 08:45 PM
Sign me up!
Posted by: Mary Ellen | November 16, 2004 at 02:20 AM